Copper futures monitor euro's climb

Copper futures were gaining in value on Thursday, tracking the upward surge of the shared currency of the European Union, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The monetary unit's climb was spurred by the European Central Bank opting against boosting borrowing costs during its Thursday meeting in Frankfurt, Germany. That proved to be disappointing to analysts, investors and traders who were anticipating an interest rate slash.

Following the policy meeting, President Mario Draghi told a news conference that the economic outlook for the 17-nation region is growing stronger. The bloc is believed to be in the final throes of the damaging tendencies of the sovereign debt crisis, which attacked markets, banks and public finance systems for three-plus years.

"What we saw was an attempt to take that market lower, and when that failed, there was a short-covering rally," metals trading director Dave Meger with Vision Financial told The Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

At 11:29 a.m. on Thursday, copper futures climbed 0.7 percent, a 0.0245-cent rise to $3.5175 per pound.

Copper climbs
Gains to the base metal, which is sensitive to worldwide economic and financial developments due to its myriad uses in construction, manufacturing and additional industry, were as high as 1.1 percent on Thursday.

The common currency pushed higher by as much as 1 percent against the world's reserve currency, paving the way for the industrial metal to follow suit.

But those gains were not as high as they could have been higher.

German manufacturing slump
The reddish metal initially was under pressure on Thursday as a result of underwhelming economic data released by the largest economy of the euro zone.

Manufacturing orders in Germany dropped 1.9 percent in January as compared to figures from one month prior.

Forecasts had been for the metric to climb by as much as 0.6 percent.

The reduced pace of manufacturing in the largest regional economy has a bearish impact on the market performance of the reddish metal.

Circumstances regarding another economic leader also tempered the base metal's gains on Thursday.

Chinese demand hovers
China, host of the globe's second-largest economy and the consumer of 40 percent of the globe's supply of the reddish metal, has not manifested a fervent demand, according to Reuters.

Consequently, other base metals on the commodity complex are unlikely to demonstrate bullish streaks, commodity research head Nic Brown with Natixis told Reuters.

The Asian nation's property market, for which the industrial metal is vital, is subject to tighter restrictions. That is pinching the market performance of copper futures.

"We would expect copper buying (from China) to increase more strongly if prices reach closer to $7,500 per ton, but there are signs of some traders buying on the dips," states a note penned by ANZ analysts, according to Reuters.

The nation has not seen demand climb since market participants returned following a week-long holiday last month in observance of the Lunar New Year.

But all eyes are training on the upshot of meetings held by the country's new rulers, who are convening this week. They are likely to issue policy decrees that will impact prices of the reddish metal.

Reduced demand projected
An analyst with researcher and consultancy Wood Mackenzie forecast the reddish metal to endure "downward pressure" as this year proceeds, according to Bloomberg. Demand is likely to reduce its pace while the growth of supplies are inclined to slow.

Senior copper analyst Steven Lewis said at a Madrid conference that 2014 and 2015 will see ore grades at some mines resume normal production.

The Spanish capital hosted the 26th annual International Copper Conference, which is sponsored by Metal Bulletin.